I read an interesting tidbit on marathon pace runs on another forum thread. It was about a guy who was doing a ton of his training at or a little faster than desired MP. I don’t think he was doing this necessarily on purpose, just happened to be a pace he felt very comfy at. One person posted that in his opinion MP runs are pretty much for pyschological value for race day but they really lie in a “wasteland” of sorts when it comes to actual improvement benefits. Or the way I understood it, there are other paces better suited for training, most of them being slower, that will have MORE benefit for one improving their times (long range of course).

The “wasteland” opinion came from a guy who has run sub 2:30 before (I think) and seems to usually have pretty good opinions.

As I’m in easy running, basebuilding, farting with fartlek mode, MP runs are about the last thing on my mind right now, my next marathon is in January.

Just curious as to everyone’s thoughts on this and to how much MP is in everyone’s diet.

I think Zeke is on to something. Daniels talks a lot about “junk pace” or some term like that as being a pace between the 4 training paces he recommends using. His basic idea is that you get the most benefit from the least amount of effort by training at those specific paces. Basically, maximize your benefit first but minimize the amount of effort you have to put forth in order to get that maximum benefit.

Personally, I do think MP runs serve some purpose. You have to know your pace well so you don’t overextend yourself early in the marathon. They can also be a good strength workout. However, I have a feeling that the point the other person was trying to make was that running frequently at MP is not as effective as slowing down the majority of the time and going longer while going faster at specific times. Basically, don’t run MP all the time.

For most of the average elect on the board such as myself, I believe it is crucial to run around your marathon pace so you can learn to dial in. I figure there are a couple dozen good ways to train for a marathon, but for me, I like to run 10-15 miles a weeks at or below race pace on average. I say that because most of us have barely mastered any distance, let alone a marathon.

The most common question I see from people regarding this is, “What pace should I run a marathon at? Figure it out, experiment, dial it down, take risks, because we have no idea.